Himachal Pradesh Patrakar Kalyan Yojana, 2017 (Journalist Welfare Scheme)

What is the Himachal Pradesh Patrakar Kalyan Yojana?

Himachal Pradesh Patrakar Kalyan Yojana, 2017 is the state's journalist welfare scheme, run by the Department of Information and Public Relations (I&PR), Government of Himachal Pradesh. The scheme provides one-time financial assistance to accredited journalists who face a serious illness or permanent incapacitation, and to the legal heirs of an accredited journalist who dies. The scheme is listed on the department's own website under the Media section as Patrakar Kalyan Yojana.

According to the departmental page, the scheme was notified on 24 March 2017 and amended on 31 July 2018, replacing the older Journalists Welfare Fund Scheme of 2006. The change was not cosmetic. The 2017 scheme created a defined corpus, listed fixed assistance slabs instead of ad hoc grants, and put decisions in the hands of a standing committee rather than case-by-case administrative discretion.

The corpus is Rs 1 crore, supplemented by Rs 31,85,018 carried forward from the earlier welfare fund scheme. Assistance is paid out of this corpus, so the number of claims sanctioned in a year is bounded by what the fund can bear.

What the scheme is designed to do

• Meet the cost of treatment for a major ailment that a working journalist's income cannot absorb.
• Give a defined sum to a family when an accredited journalist dies.
• Recognise the specific risk of a journalist being attacked because of their work, by paying a higher amount where death follows violence.
• Extend a smaller measure of protection to retired accredited journalists.

Who is eligible for the HP journalist welfare scheme?

You can claim if you fall in one of these categories:

• Serving accredited journalists of Himachal Pradesh, accredited by the Department of Information and Public Relations at state, district or sub-divisional level.
• Retired accredited journalists who have put in a minimum of 20 years in journalism and are 58 years of age or above.
• Legal heirs and dependants of an accredited journalist who has died, where the claim is for the death benefit.

Two further conditions run across every category:

• The annual family income must be below Rs 1,80,000, established through an income certificate issued by the Tehsildar or Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
• A valid accreditation certificate must be produced.

You are not eligible if:

• You have never been accredited or recognised by the Himachal Pradesh Department of Information and Public Relations. The state scheme is anchored to accreditation; a working journalist without it must look to the central Journalist Welfare Scheme instead.
• Your annual family income exceeds Rs 1,80,000. The income ceiling is a hard eligibility test, not a preference.
• You are a retired journalist with less than 20 years of service or below 58 years of age, since the retired category is defined by both tests together.
• You cannot produce an income certificate from the competent revenue authority. A self-declaration of income is not a substitute.

How much assistance does the scheme give?

The medical slabs are stated as upper limits, so the committee can sanction less than Rs 2.5 lakh where the treatment cost is lower. The death and incapacitation figures are fixed sums.

The Rs 3 lakh slab for a death caused by violence or an attack is the distinctive part of this scheme. It exists because a journalist killed in connection with their reporting leaves a family with no lead time to prepare, and the state has chosen to mark that category separately from a natural death.

How to apply for the HP Patrakar Kalyan Yojana

1. Confirm your accreditation status. Check that your accreditation or recognition card issued by the Department of Information and Public Relations is current. If it has lapsed, get the renewal processed first, because the accreditation certificate is a mandatory attachment.
2. Obtain an income certificate from your Tehsildar or Sub-Divisional Magistrate showing annual family income below Rs 1,80,000.
3. Collect Form-I, the prescribed application form under the Himachal Pradesh Patrakar Kalyan Yojana, 2017, from the Directorate of Information and Public Relations at Shimla or from your District Public Relations Officer.
4. Fill Form-I with your accreditation details, the category of assistance claimed, the ailment or the event giving rise to the claim, and your bank account details.
5. Attach the supporting documents; accreditation certificate, income certificate, and, depending on the claim, the hospital records and cost estimate, the death certificate, the legal heir or dependency certificate, or the record of 20 years of service for a retired journalist.
6. Submit the file. State-level accredited journalists submit Form-I directly to the Director, Information and Public Relations. District-level and sub-divisional-level journalists submit through their District Public Relations Officer, who forwards the case to the Directorate.
7. Ask for immediate assistance if the case is urgent. Where treatment cannot wait, request the Director (I&PR) to authorise the Rs 25,000 emergency payment while the main claim is processed.
8. Track the case with the Directorate until the welfare committee takes it up and the sanction is issued. Payment is made to the bank account recorded in the application.

Who decides the claims?

The scheme is administered by a standing committee rather than a single officer. The departmental page sets out its composition:

• Minister-in-charge, Information and Public Relations, Chairman
• Administrative Secretary (I&PR); Member
• Secretary or Deputy Secretary, Finance; Member
• Director (I&PR), Member Secretary

The presence of a Finance Department officer on the committee matters in practice: sanctions are checked against the state of the corpus, which is why a large medical claim may be sanctioned at less than the full Rs 2.5 lakh ceiling.

Between committee meetings, the Director (I&PR) has the standing power to release Rs 25,000 as immediate assistance. That is the route to use when a journalist is admitted to hospital and the family needs money before the committee can meet.

Who counts as an accredited journalist in Himachal Pradesh?

Accreditation in Himachal Pradesh is governed by the state's press correspondent accreditation and recognition rules, published by the same department. Three levels exist:

• State level — correspondents based at the state headquarters, Shimla.
• District level; correspondents based at a district headquarters.
• Sub-divisional level, correspondents based at a sub-divisional headquarters.

The rules require the correspondent to reside at the headquarters of the state, district or sub-division for which accreditation is sought, and to have a minimum of three consecutive years in journalism. The department issues two kinds of card, an accredited card and a recognised card, with recognised correspondents having narrower access to government facilities.

If you are a working journalist in Himachal Pradesh who has never applied for accreditation, the practical order is to secure accreditation first. Without it, the welfare scheme is not open to you no matter how long you have worked.

Common reasons a claim is delayed or rejected

• Lapsed accreditation, the card was valid when the illness began but had expired by the date of application.
• Income certificate missing or above the ceiling of Rs 1,80,000 a year.
• Incomplete medical file, a diagnosis letter without bills or a costed treatment estimate makes it difficult for the committee to fix an amount.
• Heirship not established in a death claim, where more than one family member claims and no legal heir certificate has been produced.
• Retired journalists short of the 20-year or 58-year threshold, which is a bar rather than a curable defect.
• Corpus constraints in a given year, which can delay rather than defeat a claim.

Where to get help

• Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Government of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla.
• Telephone: 0177-2620068, 0177-2620118 and 0177-2621328.
• Email: dprhimachal@gmail.com and dprhp@himachalpr.gov.in.
• District Public Relations Officer in each district, the routing point for district and sub-divisional journalists, and the fastest way to check where a file has reached.
• Website: himachalpr.gov.in, which carries the Patrakar Kalyan Yojana page, the accreditation and recognition rules, and the lists of accredited and recognised correspondents.

The Himachal Pradesh Patrakar Kalyan Yojana runs in parallel with the central Journalist Welfare Scheme of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which is administered through the Press Information Bureau and covers accredited and non-accredited journalists across India. A journalist in Himachal Pradesh facing a major illness or a family facing a death should examine both routes, since the eligibility tests and the amounts differ.